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American Basketball League (1996-1998)
The American Basketball League, often abbreviated to the ABL of 1996 was an independent professional basketball league for women in the United States. At the same time the ABL was being formed, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was creating the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Both organizations came into existence during a surge in popularity for women's basketball in the United States that followed the undefeated, gold medal-winning performance of the United States Women's basketball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The ABL got off the ground first, and early on was generally considered to feature a higher quality of play than the rival WNBA. This was partly due to the league's signing of a majority of players from the 1996 USA women's team. Star players were drawn to the league partly due to the higher salaries offered by the ABL. Ultimately, the league was unable to compete financially against the WNBA, which was backed by the NBA. The NBA has operated the WNBA at a loss every year since its inception. The ABL lasted two full seasons: 1996–97 and 1997–98. The Atlanta Glory and Long Beach Stingrays folded prior to the start of the 1998–99 season. The ABL disbanded on December 22, 1998 with teams having played between 12 to 15 games of the 1998–99 season. Of the locations of the ABL's teams, only Chicago, Portland, Seattle, and Atlanta have been given WNBA teams. 1996–98 clubs * Atlanta Glory (1996–97 and 1997–98) * Chicago Condors (1998) * Colorado Xplosion * Columbus Quest * Long Beach Stingrays (expansion team in 1997–98) * Nashville Noise 1998 * New England Blizzard * Portland Power * Richmond Rage 1996–97/Philadelphia Rage 1997–98 * San Jose Lasers * Seattle Reign Seasons 1996–97 Eastern Conference Western Conference *Semifinals **Richmond 2–0 Colorado **Columbus 2–0 San Jose *Finals **Columbus 3–2 Richmond 1997–98 Eastern Conference Western Conference *First Round **San Jose 2–0 New England **Long Beach 2–1 Colorado *Semifinals **Columbus 2–0 San Jose **Long Beach 2–0 Portland *Finals **Columbus 3–2 Long Beach 1998–99 Eastern Conference Western Conference All-Star Games The 1996–97 ABL All-Star Game was played on December 15, 1996 at the Hartford Civic Center. Eastern Conference 81-65 Western Conference. The game's MVP was Tari Phillips. The 1997–98 ABL All-Star Game was played on January 18, 1998 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Eastern Conference 102-73 Western Conference. The 1998–99 ABL All-Star Game was scheduled to be played on January 24, 1999 in San Jose, California, but was canceled when the league ceased operations in December 1998. ABL Championship Series Notable players *Jennifer Azzi *Cass Bauer-Bilodeau *Debbie Black *Cindy Brown *Edna Campbell *Sylvia Crawley, now the head coach at Boston College *Anna DeForge *Teresa Edwards *Tonya Edwards, now Head Coach at Alcorn State University *Shalonda Enis *Barbara Farris *Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the Olympic-champion long jumper and heptathlete *Molly Goodenbour *Yolanda Griffith *Sonja Henning *Kedra Holland-Corn *Shannon Johnson *Carolyn Jones-Young *Venus Lacy *Andrea Lloyd-Curry *Michelle Marciniak *Nikki McCray *Delisha Milton *Taj McWilliams-Franklin *Kate Paye, now an assistant coach at Stanford University *Tari Phillips *Angie Potthoff, now an assistant coach at University of Notre Dame *Elaine Powell *Katrina Price *Jennifer Rizzotti, now the head coach at the University of Hartford *Saudia Roundtree *Sheri Sam *Katie Smith *Charlotte Smith, now an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina *Dawn Staley, now the head coach at the University of South Carolina *Katy Steding *Kate Starbird *Shanele Stires *Sonja Tate *Vonda Ward, now a professional boxer *Natalie Williams See also * National Women's Basketball League * Women's American Basketball Association * Women's National Basketball Association * Women's Professional Basketball League References External links * John Sage's ABL webpage capture, containing old interviews, articles, and final statistics * ABL on APBR.org website * All-Star cards * Professional basketball research Category:Basketball leagues